Trailer hitch assemblies of many types have been developed over the years for use with recreational vehicles and for use with industrial vehicles. The coupling members are subjected to considerable jolting and hammering during transit. This is true of both the ball type coupling means and the pin type coupling means. The usefulness of a hitch assembly could be extended, timewise, if the assembly were constructed in such a manner as to reduce wear on the coupling members by including means in the assembly to absorb the impact between members when in use.
It is well known in the art to provide some resilient mass to absorb shocks in a joint between two members as illustrated by Wood U.S. Pat. No. 3,199,903 and Haushalter U.S. Pat. No. 2,940,785.
More relevant to the present invention is the patent to Thomas 3,961,813 which discloses a trailer hitch assembly including means to absorb the shock between the pintle and the eye portion of the hitch. Such an assembly is rather costly to produce. Also, because of its construction it is not readily adapted for use with many vehicles and trailers.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a cushion hitch assembly having a long lifetime.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a hitch pin for use in a hitch assembly which is adapted to absorb impact shock.